Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $2.07 Million Stock Holdings in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Key Points

• Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in Wells Fargo by 26.6% during Q1, owning 28,811 shares valued at approximately $2.07 million.
• Wells Fargo's board approved a $40 billion share buyback program to repurchase up to 17.2% of its stock, indicating confidence in the stock's valuation.
• The company's recent dividend increase to $0.45 per share signifies a 2.2% yield, up from $0.40, reflecting a strong dividend payout ratio of 27.40%.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 26.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,811 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,053 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 66,233 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,652,000 after acquiring an additional 25,436 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,846,015 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $199,904,000 after purchasing an additional 626,791 shares during the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,099 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,316,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 168.2% during the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 30,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,116,000 after purchasing an additional 18,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 80,928 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,684,000 after purchasing an additional 5,496 shares during the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WFC. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $73.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Phillip Securities cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.39.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Wells Fargo & Company stock opened at $80.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $262.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $78.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.90. Wells Fargo & Company has a 52-week low of $50.15 and a 52-week high of $84.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.13. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The business had revenue of $20.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 29th that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.40%.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.

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